Prince of Peace School

Message from the Principal

With the opening of school on August 30th, our teachers, students and families have been busy living up to our school motto of “Teaching Love and Service by Word and Example”.  We have had the opportunity to be part of many community events such as a prayer service at the Steelton Fire Company with the area churches in honor of 9/11.  We took a group of students from Grades 3-7 to the American Legion to sing to veterans from the Veteran’s Hospital in Lebanon.  Many families and students came to the first spaghetti dinner to volunteer their service and did equally as great for the second dinner.  We had the blessing of animals in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.  Every Tuesday as a school body we have been saying the Living Rosary.  On   October 7th we had a special Rosary to pray for Priests.  In religion classes the Rosary is recited daily as a class from Kindergarten to Eighth Grade.  Our school organizations have also been busy having fundraisers and the volunteers have been remarkable for each event.  There is no denying that they are living our Catholic faith and living up to our school motto.  All this is done by the example of our parents who are our first teachers, our school teachers and parishioners.  We have many volunteers in our school from classroom helpers to cafeteria helpers to those who prepare the spaghetti and work at bingo.  Our students witness their dedication for the benefit of our Church and our school.

By the example of so many individuals, the Catholic faith is very visible in our school.  The participation that the children show at Mass is commendable.  During the Living Rosary, Catholics and non-Catholics alike are praying together as one Body in Christ.  Last year we had three students from our school in the RCIA program, this year we have an additional three.  As far as adults, we had one parent come into the Church last year and this year a student’s grandmother is in the program.  By work and example our faith is being spread.

We have had a lot of other exciting things going on as well.  As mentioned previously, we sang to the veterans which was   possible because we now have a school choir under the direction of our new music teacher, Mr. Beshara.  He is currently   preparing the choir, made up of 2nd graders to 8th graders, to perform at a REACH Foundation gathering on December 1st.  We will also have a group of students perform at the Steelton Tree Lighting ceremony on December 1st.  Our Christmas concert will be combined with the Living Nativity on Sunday,   December 20th at our Church. 

Our school has also been applying for many grants.  We received a grant from Highmark Healthy High Five for fruits and   vegetables.  Every Tuesday and Friday afternoon the students and teachers have a special snack of a new fruit or vegetable.  The teachers educate the students on their nutritional value, where the fruit is grown, and other great facts.  The program has been successful and you hearing the children say that they have asked their parents to purchase these fruits and vegetables at the grocery store.  Healthy eating is one of the objectives of the program.  We have many more grants out there as well.  Our gym teacher helped write a grant for gym equipment.  Some of the students know what he has requested and I believe he is more excited than the students to hear if we were approved for the grant.  We should be hearing by December and be able to implement Dance, Dance Revolution into our curriculum.  We have grants for new books for the library and to update our              library itself, new desks for our classrooms and even for a playground.  The grants, if approved, will be a great asset to our school.

Yes, our school has been faced with a challenge to meet our budget.  A challenge that we as teachers and parents have all accepted and will be working very hard to accomplish.  We all feel that our children, whether from Prince of Peace Parish, a near-by Parish, or a child from our community, are worth the hard work and dedication we will need to succeed in this challenge.  As a school community we feel that we are a true Catholic school, living and sharing the faith to all who enter our doors.  The success of our school is important to our Parish and community.  Knowing that it is not easy to support us financially in every fundraiser we have, we ask that you spiritually support our efforts for our school’s future.  Please pray for our teachers and our youth.  We are also open to any suggestions you might have that will help us with the success of our challenge.  Teaching love and service by word and example is not new to our Parish community.  It is visible in all we do for each other.  It is what makes us a community, a Parish. 

WE ARE PRINCE OF PEACE PARISH SCHOOL!

Ms. Kimberly DePaulis, Principal